Got in trouble while shooting!!

[Joshua Lee]

Man there are some ruffled feathers here. I just have to make an observation that may continue this topic that has gotten out of hand.  First off, I obey the law and respect officers of the law for the fine work they do.  However, not every law is righteous, and we should question laws and the motives behind them.  In this case, I think not shooting in town may or may not be reasonable.  But I often wonder why is there a seat belt law but not a helmet law for motorcycles.  The best reason I can figure is that if you wreck in a car without a seat belt you often survive but badly injured... insurance company pays you a bunch of money for your injuries (hence seatbelt law).. and if you wreck on a motorcycle without a helmet your dead.. no cost to insurance companies (so no helmet law).

So just cause there is a Law doesn't make it right is my point, and we should obey but question Laws. Or soon there will be a law to keep a clean garage for safety and I will go straight to Jail.
Josh

[Burnsie]

Well, I'm either complying with the law or the Police in my small town don't mind me shooting in my yard.  I live right across the road from the police station and wave at them all day long while they come and go.  My backstop is the gable end of my brick house, so maybe that's considered safe enough.  Been there 18 years,  never had a problem.  I guess I'll be thankful for as long as I am allowed.  I can max out at a nice 25 yds,  would hate to have to pack up the vehicle every night to shoot somewhere else.

[Zradix]

Originally posted by Orion:
Check the village regs first.

[DV of WI]

Matt,

Would you be leagal carp shooting in the river in town?
I would just go out to some of the county and state land that surronds town and roam and stump shoot. Kind of a pain but a solution.

[bentpole]

Living in City Limits YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SHOOT A BOW. Just like shooting a handgun or rifle or shotgun. No shooting loaded weapons within City Limits! Plus check the Regulations Not allowed to shoot within 150 Yards  of an occupied building. It's considered a loaded Weapon.I would never do that.          

[SteveB]

Personally if a neighbor is within worst case bow shot range, I do not want him shooting in his yard. I would do the same. It only takes one weird glance off to make a very bad day for several people.

[frassettor]

That stinks Matt! I would look into it a little bit to see exactly what the rules are.

[frank bullitt]

If this is the law or ordinance, in fact, good reason to start a club, and get the other "Shooters" together. Who knows what my spawn!

If lemons, make lemonade! In reality, if your shooting in your home, basement, garage, still Illegal! He Told you the rules, seems like a decent Person to me! I understand your "What, and Whys". Wisconsin, a state with a steep heritage of Hunting, Archery and such.

I also wonder, haw many cities have such ordinances, and there is an archery shop, or club in the city limits, who have shoots....illegally.

Oh teacher, maybe the rule just came into effect?
Post the regulation, please.

[Chris Shelton]

WOW, this is bull!!!  I would raise holly **** to be honest.  I don't like a lot of our governments laws, and to be frank, a lot of Maryland law enforcement officers are wrong!  For example the DNR officer that asked me what the regs where because he wasn't sure, he wanted to write me a ticket for the trout I had on the stringer.  He told me he had to go back up to his truck to check the regs, and if everything was fine he would honk his horn and be gone.  Two mins later he honked his horn and was gone.  The worst part about it all is that there is a sign on the tree RIGHT next to where the officer was parked stating the regulations for that part of the river, DOIGH!!

Dad drives interstate 70 everyday.  He knows the state troopers by there numbers.  Why is it okay to drive 80 miles an hour to get to headquarters?  Because they are cops??  I don't mean to be disrespectful to any law enforcement officers but here in MD the enforcement part is so sketchy.  I followed a trooper yesterday that was driving like a drunk because he was using his lap top.  I understand that the computer is a big part of their job, but dang pull over, especially when you are hitting the rumble strip on the median.

Listen, Mr. Teacher, all of the solid advice above is good.  If that don't work I would raise more ruccus, heck I would go as far as the local media, saying the law violates the right to bear arms??  Truthfully the officer is probably wrong!  Don't know until you look!

But I don't know if stump shooting is a viable option, it is illegal in my state on public ground, "it is unlawful to target shoot on state owned lands unless otherwise designated as a target shooting area"!!!!!!!!!!!!!  THIS IS THE TYPE OF BULL I AM TALKING ABOUT< MD sucks, I am moving, lol  

FYI for those that say if you don't like cops call a hippie, I don't need cops I have a 12 gauge hanging above my bed    .

[Barney]

Exactly why I've never lived in any "city limits".


  I think anyone should be allowed to shoot their bow in their yard.....as long as you shoot towards your own house.  

[Jim Harris]

I was told a few years back that archery equipment would be taken by the police if used in the city limits. So, I go to the archery range to shoot. One is about 5 miles from me and the other is 14 miles away.  Jim

[Paul Mattson]

Where I live, the city has an ordiance.  No shooting of firearms or weapons, a bow and arrow is considered a weapon.  I have a back stop in my backyard and a target.  I have had the city police walk by my target, and drive by when I  had my bow in my hand.  Until someone says something I am going to keep doing what I am doing.  There are no houses only  a corn feild in the direction I am shooting.

Is it illegal? it maybe. But, so is parking downtown on city streets after 2am, and I do that all the time.

[Ben Maher]

FYI for those that say if you don't like cops call a hippie, I don't need cops I have a 12 gauge hanging above my bed  

??????

here in  melbourne Australia it is illegal to use a bow at home after three years ago a young fella shot an arrow , missed his target , glancing off one fence , travelling through another paling fence to bounce off a caravan door , kiling the poor gentleman inside of it. Now if i got caught using my bow in town i'd face serious criminal charges and would instantly lose my firearms licence.
Sound unfair ?
Perhaps rather than me flinging cedar across my backgarden with my longbow , imagine some over zealous 14 year old with a scoped  200# crossbow. is there a difference ?

Perhaps coomon sense should be applied to both sides of the arguement.

Ben

[Autumnarcher]

Exactly the reason I do not live within a city limits. Too many people with their noses in others business. One sourpuss for a neighbor and you cant live your life as you please in your own yard. I have a 3D range in my backyard, and shoot bows and guns regularly.

I sit at a table in my front yard and shoot up to 90 yds into my backyard to sight my muzzleloader. I can go across the road to my neighbors hay field and shoot aerials.

As Toby Keith song goes, I live out on the backroads where I walk my country mile, if its so good in the city why dont anybody smile?

[TimRadke]

I hesitate to write this and keep the thread going, but what is there to raise "holly" hell about?  An officer who gave a verbal warning instead of a citation and a confiscated bow?  Or a law (ordinance) created to protect people due to proximity?  If the ordinance should be changed then work to change it, and raising hell won't get that done.  

And I'm not certain I understand the point of your Maryland Warden story... Are you upset that the Warden wasn't 100% certain on the regulations, so he went to his truck and checked it out to make sure he did his job properly, and then acknowledged that you were right and left you alone without taking any enforcent action?  I'd think that's what we'd all want him to do if he wasn't positive about a regulation...

If you decide to speak with the Officer, think about how you would like someone to speak to you in your profession, and speak to him in that same manner.   I'm sure the Officer would be happy to point you in the right direction and give you some information that may help you if you show him the same respect.

Hope you come up with a good solution!

[eric-thor]

people r to funny bla bla bla .... hey ive got an idea why dont we talk about a socalist president who want to take ALL  rights away. than we will all have something to cry about. i forget who said it " dont sweat the small stuff ". didnt see any cop bashing either . but than im not that sennsitive either .  

A couple of years ago a kid put an arrow dent in the side of garage that had a hole in the roof big enough to drop a flying cow through it.  The city manager and a local cop decided that was all they needed to give me a big mouth and a warning with a print off of the town rules. Problem was according to those rules shooting on ones own yard safely is perfectly legal. The other problem was that two of my archer friends are also cops, they were not told of this at all.  It is a very hefty law suit to create a law for just one person out of thin air. It seems that creating things out of thin air for the prejudice or benefit of only certain persons or individual groups is going on a lot these days.  I am still shooting in my yard. No one has ever been in danger from our shooting other than my own structures/backstop. There are just too many rules that serve no purpose other than subjugating the population.

[TheFatboy]

Originally posted by pavan:
There are just too many rules that serve no purpose other than subjugating the population.

I could not agree more.

[B/W lvr]

A bow is not a toy and should be treated like the deadly weapon it is. I know far too many people that shoot in their yards etc and are unsafe when doing it. So you have to drive six miles to shoot safely so what thats far better than wounding of killing someone. I love to shoot my bows and guns but I go to an appropriate area to do it. Frank

[Hoyt]

Not all law enforcement people are up to date on the laws. I had an MP at Ft. Stewart, Ga. pull me over one day and try to write me a ticket because I had a strung bow in my vehicle. I had a heck of a time trying to explain to him that I couldn't unstring a compound bow and that it was legal to transport them strung.